Villains of the Darker World
by USAthroughout
Summary: With HIM finally defeated, it seems as though Powerpuff Z can finally live their normal lives, but when a greater evil threatens a world invasion, it is up to them and a new ally to stop them. This story will have more violence and romance as an alternative to the anime. Momoko x OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Villains of the Darker World**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z. This is made for entertainment purposes only.**_**  
**_

5 years ago…

"Sir, multiple figures heading your way." One operator said from an aircraft carrier.

"Like I don't know that! I am trying to fight them off for Pete's sake." An unknown officer being chased uses his body energy to create an electric charge and blasts one of the figures, but the rest still follows.

"Sir, I am heavily outnumbered here, where is the back up you promised me?"

"Additional forces have been sent to the base, but have encountered heavy resistance in the north sector."

Hearing this, the young officer heads to the north sector and meets up with the team, easily dispatching the enemy forces attacking them.

"Man I am glad to see you guys here." The officer remarked.

"Same here, with us now together, we can secure this enemy base before nightfall."

"I don't think so." A voice stated.

A red alert was sound and the base security was activated. Attempting to get out of the sector, the team moves to the nearest exit, but the wall platforms suddenly transformed, revealing machine guns underneath and easily kills off the team with the exception of the officer, who destroys the guns using the same attack, but later finds himself surrounded by four dark concealing figures.

"You didn't think we would make this easy for you did we?" One figure said.

"Ha! No matter what situation, I will never let you invade Earth you scoundrels!" The officer yelled.

"Why don't you make it easy on yourself and become our prisoner. If you do, I promise that you will be the only individual we won't enslaved once the Earth's resistance fall before us."

Much to their surprise, the officer smiles in response. "Sorry, but I don't take prisoners."

The officer drops a device that started beeping once it hits the ground.

"You fool! What have you done?" Another figure screamed.

"If I have to die, then I am taking all of you with me!" The base explodes, killing the officer and the four figures that surrounded him.

Back in the aircraft carrier, the general waits for the results, but a desperate operator barges in to tell him the bad news.

"Sir, a detonation has occurred within the base with mostly enemy casualties, but we lost our best soldier as a price."

The general turns to the operator. "It was a foolish mistake to sent even the strongest alone in a suicide mission. Maybe next time, our superiors would think twice before sending even a super soldier alone to a heavily guarded enemy base."

"But sir, he was our last super-soldier working for us in this base, where are we going to find another?"

The general points to the screen, showing a young boy with dark brown hair and blue eyes.

"His name is Ethan Wright, a 9 year old boy living in New York City, whose father was killed by the same aliens that killed our young officer. After his father died, he was the last person injected with Chemical Z as a toddler in case we ever needed another super soldier. With the enemies plot foiled for the time being, we will allow him to live a normal for a little longer until he is ready."

The operator protested. "But sir, the Chemical Z is a secret project made by our scientists for our super soldier project. What if the people find out?"

"Our superiors ordered the cancellation of the super-soldier project due to the harm it does to the person, with the exception of Ethan, and our young officer that was just killed due to improved chemical properties in the substance."

"Officers also have Intel that Professor Utonium in Tokyo City is experimenting with the Chemical X for the time being, which is the bases for Chemical Z. What will happen then?"

"Seems like we are the first to came up with the substance, but if another makes it make sure it to let his colleagues know to tell him to test it, although it will probably take several years for him to figure out the formula, which is the same time it took our scientists to figure out."

"So he is basically making the same kind of substance as ours without knowing it has already been made?"

"The super-soldier project has been active for more than 20 years, studying different chemicals and the effect it has on us, but that is how long this project has been kept secret. If word gets out then so be it, nothing last forever and the professor himself will have to figure out that we were ahead in making the substance he desired. Give a job offer to Ethan's family to move to Japan in case the project is considered for a revival."

Today…

It has been 3 months since HIM was defeated and sent off into space and the Powerpuff Z are currently out taking care of Mojo, who was caught using his robot to steal the fancy gourmet food made in a cooking competition, feeling that he deserved to have an adequate meal.

Momoko is pissed off the most, seeing all the good food stolen by Mojo.

"How dare you take all this food Mojo! Release them or you will pay."

"Hahaha, I would like to see you try Mojo."

"Okay, you ask for it." Momoko, as Hyper Blossom, takes out her yo-yo and spins it towards Mojo's machine.

"Chocolate Cake Shoot!"

Kaoru, as Powered Buttercup, takes out her Daruma Otoshi hammer and swings it towards Mojo after being knocked down by Blossom's yo-yo.

"Swing Sonic." Kaoru yelled while knocking Mojo further back.

Miyako, as Rolling Bubbles, takes out her large bubble staff and swing it.

"Bubble Champagne."

Mojo is caught by the super-powered bubbles and lifts him to the sky.

"Where did I go wrong? Mojo!" Mojo screamed as he continues being lifted up by the bubbles.

Once the girls return back to their normal forms, Momoko immediately heads back to the cooking competition.

"Hurray, now I get to try the free samples."

"Hey Momoko, wait for us." Kaoru said as she and Miyako ran to catch up.

Once they head back to Utonium's lab, Peach excitedly welcomes them back. "Did all of you have fun? Wan!"

"We sure did and here, we brought some food with us for you guys to eat." Momoko replied as she handed Ken and Professor the boxes of food.

"Mojo tried to cause a ruckus again didn't he?" Ken asked.

'Yeah, but we took care of him. He was no trouble at all." Kaoru then later helped herself to the fridge for a drink.

Miyako was more relieved that not too much damage has been done during Mojo's rampage. "At least Mojo is getting easier to defeat each time we face him."

Professor becomes concerned by their presence here. "Hey, shouldn't you girls be home before your families become worried about your whereabouts?"

With the girls suddenly reminded, they desperately gather their things and head home to avoid missing their curfews.

Before exiting through the door, Miyako turns back one more time. "We'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Just try not to let the girls get in trouble once you are together again." Ken replied.

"All right, see you." Miyako then runs off home.

With the girls gone, Peach senses something and becomes a little concerned.

"What is it Peach?" Ken asked.

"I can smell something affected by Chemical Z. Wan!"

This also surprised the Professor. "How can this be? I thought we got rid of all the Chemical Z during the final battle against HIM."

"We did, but we probably missed one or someone else might have made the substance. Wan!"

"But we are the only ones who knew how it was made. Are you saying that there might be someone else who also made it?" Ken yelled.

"I don't know, but don't worry, because whatever it is, it smells like it was only hit by white Z-Rays so only good things should happen. Wan!"

"We won't call the Powerpuff Z then, but still we got to be careful. We don't know what has been hit."

The next day, the girls face trouble even as Powerpuff Z. The mayor called about a new enemy attacking the city and shows them the footage that they were able to get, showing a humanoid metallic being with great ninja-like stealth and agility, dodging military fire, shape shifting its hands into blades, easily cutting through their armor.

"It's weird. Wan! There are no black Z-rays in this enemy. Wan!"

"This is bad, it looks like we have a new and more dangerous enemy to face. Peach, call the Powerpuff Z." The Professor ordered.

"Powerpuff Z da wan!"

Once the girls are alerted, they immediately transformed after excusing themselves from class and become worried after finding out that their enemy maybe the hardest one they ever faced.

Once the girls reach town, they finally caught up with the enemy, who in turn, stares them down, even though it does not have eyes.

"What is that thing?" Momoko asked Miyako.

"I don't know, but if we don't take him down, it will destroy the city. We can't let that happen."

"We won't." Kaoru takes out her hammer and smashes it to the ground.

"Graviton Drive!" Shock waves were created upon impact, heading towards the being, but it was easily dodged by jumping."

"Let's see you dodge this. Strawberry Mochi Ice Cream Shoot!" Momoko launches her yo-yo towards the strange being.

The being also evades the shot and starts shooting metallic spikes towards Momoko. Luckily, Miyako reacted quickly and took out her bubble staff.

"Bubble Boing."

Strong bubbles coming out of the staff protected Momoko from the barrage of spikes, but Miyako warns her that the bubbles won't hold, causing Momoko to retreat.

"I won't let you get away." Kaoru attempts to swing her hammer towards the being.

"Hurricane Lutz!" Kaoru spins around nonstop with her hammer, but not knowing that it can read her movements, Kaoru is stopped on her track when she felt her gut being kicked and was later tossed through a glass building.

Momoko attempts to ambush the being and successfully landed a strong kick on to the head, sending it down backwards crashing into some of the vehicles.

"I did it!" Momoko screamed as the girls regroup, but her moment was ruined when the being gets back up without a single scratch.

"What will it take to defeat this thing?" Momoko yelled, as Kaoru and Miyako become worried.

Before the being could fly back up, a small item hits it in the back of the head. The being picks it up to observe it, but before it could react, the item exploded, destroying it once and for all.

The girls were shocked by what has transpired.

"What exactly happened?" Miyako asked.

"I don't know, but if it was only targeting that "thing" then whoever it is shouldn't be all bad. We'll think more about this later, come on let's head back to class." Kaoru flies off with Momoko and Miyako following.

An individual is later seen from a building behind the attack site, revealing to be a young man dressed in a business suit holding a M32 Multiple Grenade Launcher.

"General, you are right, it appears that the Invaders are striking back again, but even more surprising are the three heroines that fought against the android, the Powerpuff Z as people called them."

"How did they handle against it?"

"They fought well sir, they were able to hit a strong blow against it, even though I had to intervene."

"It looks like Ethan won't be alone once his turn arrives to save the world. Allow Ethan to live his life a little longer and keep your eyes on the girls every time they come. General out."

"Yes sir."

Once the girls got back to class to begin a new period, Miss Keane is about to introduce a new student to the school.

"It is an honor for me to introduce a new student into our class, so students please give a warm welcome to your new classmate, born all the way from the United States, Ethan Wright.

The 14-year-old teen comes in wearing dark blue jeans, a black adidas track jacket, and sporting partially curtained hairstyle.

"Would the new student like to say a few words?" Miss Keane asked.

"Thank you. Hello class, my name is Ethan Wright. I was born in the U.S., but I lived in Japan for several years and kind of grown accustomed to the country. Please treat me well."

Half of the girls in the class immediately fall head over heels for him with Momoko having heart covered eyes over the sight of him, but did not act as obsessed over him like some of the girls who are already infatuated with him, who immediately rushed over him to ask questions. Miss Keane told the girls to get back to their seats and told Ethan to sit anywhere he wants. He spots an empty seat next to Momoko and head towards there.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" Ethan asked Momoko.

"No, it was empty for quite a while so go right ahead." Momoko gave a straight answer out of her infatuation.

"Thank you." Ethan takes his seat and allows the class to continue.

The same man who saved the Powerpuff Z earlier went into the attack site and spot three slightly mutilated bodies near it.

"I definitely hope these girls can rise to our expectations. I can't bear to see much more of this brutality."

**I decided to put a darker tone in the PPGZ series to mix the elements of the original cartoon and the anime, along with some elements coming from darker superhero and martial arts series and films such as the Dark Knight, Mortal Kombat: Legacy, and the Blade films with this chapter also influenced by another fanfic Heart of Metal. I am sure that you can tell that it also has a bit of Captain America influence. This is a preview and if enough people like this, I will make more chapters.**


	2. Chapter 2

As Ethan easily gets acquainted with the class, Miyako and Kaoru drag Momoko, who is still too infatuated with Ethan to move, out to the halls.

Kaoru puts Momoko on to the lockers to get her attention. "Now listen Momoko, I know that this is the first time we have a good-looking guy in the class, but you can't forget your own schedule okay? We will meet you outside for PE."

"Okay." Momoko was able to snap out of her usual trance once Kaoru confronted her.

When Momoko opens her locker, she finds unpleasant animal toys in her locker belonging to Sakamoto, who was near her when she opened it.

"You idiot! How dare you do this to me?" Momoko screamed.

"It wasn't me! It wasn't me!" Sakamoto falsely denies the prank, but before Momoko could beat him, Sakamoto's hand was grabbed Ethan, who suddenly appeared in the hallway.

"What exactly are you doing to my classmate? You weren't just pranking her, were you?" Ethan asked.

"No, I didn't." Sakamoto begins to beg.

"My mother happens to be an Army officer. You cross the line and you hear it from her got it?"

"Yes…" Sakamoto said frightened.

After Sakamoto left, Ethan turns to Momoko. "You okay?"

Momoko becomes flustered. "Yes, thank you very much um…"

"Just call me Ethan. Sure it is my first name, but things like that happen all the time in the U.S. since it doesn't have any meaning."

"Very well, then I will call you Ethan-kun." Momoko said happily.

Ethan laughs in response. "That's fine, but shouldn't you go to your next period?"

"Oh, that's right." Momoko immediately rushes through the hallway, but not before briefly turning back to Ethan.

"My name is Momoko by the way. Momoko Akatsutsumi. Thanks again." Momoko then runs again.

Before the new period begins, a small explosion was heard, attracting everyone's attention in the school. When the school was ordered to evacuate, Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru took matters into their own hands before the Mayor could alert Professor Utonium and transformed into Powerpuff Z.

As the girls head to the source of the explosion, Ethan also follows to examine the cause, not knowing the girls' presence.

When they arrived, they could see no one, but Mojo attempting to cause destruction again.

"Mojo, you are really getting to be a nuisance, you know that?" Kaoru remarked.

"If I am going to take over the world, I want to cause as much destruction as possible, Mojo."

Momoko becomes more annoyed at Mojo and his attempts to cause trouble.

"We have already just defeated a tough opponent earlier and we don't need you continuing his work."

Momoko takes out her yo-yo and launches it towards Mojo. "Strawberry Sorbet shoot!"

Kaoru takes out her hammer and starts swinging it. "Swing Sonic!"

Mojo was knocked back as always.

Miyako then takes out her bubble staff and starts swinging large bubbles out of it. "Bubble Champagne!"

The bubbles lifted Mojo in the air yet again. "Come on, the same thing again? Mojo!"

"To think he would learn his lesson rather than trying to do the same act twice, but oh well, back to class." Miyako remarked.

After Mojo has been taken care of, the girls fly back to the school once the threat is over, not knowing that Ethan saw the whole thing.

"Powerpuff Z huh? Interesting seeing them in action for the first time."

Ethan takes a look at his watch. "Guess it is time for me to go back."

Unknown to him, he was also being watched by two men down the alley.

"Is this the guy we are looking for?"

"Yes, but let's wait until he is alone for us to make our move."

The two men slipped further back into the alley until they disappeared.

After school, Ethan was on his way home, until his cell phone suddenly rings.

"Hello?"

"Ethan, it's your mother! You have to hurry back, there are people after you!"

"Mom, I don't know what you are talking about." Before Ethan could continue, a man holding a pistol shot his phone.

"He is here, everyone get him."

About a couple dozen men show up to the scene surrounding him. Ethan, though surprised, remains unafraid of the situation.

"I don't know what is going on here, but if you don't get out of the way, you are all going to be in a world of hurt."

Without saying a word, the men begin attacking, but Ethan, who received combat training from his mother, fights back. As one man attempts to strike him with a staff, Ethan dodges and grabs the staff striking him. Two more men attempt to strike, but Ethan sets the staff on the ground, lifts his body, and kicks the two men away.

"Seems like this kid has not awaken his true potential yet." Said one.

"We have to capture him before he does." Said the other.

Many men keep fighting back, but Ethan is holding against them. As one attempts to grab him from behind, Ethan jumps and head towards a wall, bouncing off of it and did a roundhouse kick towards the same man who tried to grab him.

Ethan grabs another, twists his arm and strikes him multiple times in the gut before sending him away with a palm strike.

The leader of the group has finally had enough and takes out his stun gun and aims at Ethan.

"Whether you like it or not you, you will help us." The leader shot his gun and successfully hits Ethan, paralyzing him and knocking him unconscious.

"All right, we got our guy, let's move."

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, the same aircraft carrier used as a base for previous super-soldier missions still holds as the general was recently informed of Ethan's capture by his mother.

"What exactly are we going to do now? Rogue scientists now have my son and they will stop at nothing to extract the Chemical Z from him."

"It seems that another obstacle stands in our way of winning this war. This will be the first time that we will be forced to break the law in order to save one of our own. I just hope he can survive for just a few moments."

"A few moments? What they are doing to him is probably torturing my son. What is your plan exactly?" The mother begins to get desperate.

"Calm down Mrs. Wright. We have sent an informant disguised as one of the workers to aid his escape, but the price of freedom would mean that he can no longer live a normal life as planned."

"I don't care what situation happens next. I just want my son to get out alive and safe."

"We will. All we can do now is wait."

Once Ethan awakens, he finds himself strapped to a hospital bed, seeing other scientists focusing on their own work rather than on him. Ethan attempts to struggle, but to no avail and wonders what is going to happen to him.

"Hey! What is this? Where am I?" Ethan demanded to know.

He manages to catch the attention of one of the scientists.

"Don't worry. All I can tell you is that you won't stay here forever. We will let you go eventually, but first thing is first. You have something interesting and we can't leave without it."

"What is it that you want so I can go?"

"It is not something you can just reach in and get, it is more like something we have to awaken from you in order to take."

"You are going to try to cut me up?"

"Of course not, but there is going to be some pain that you must endure for us to get to it."

"You are going to make me suffer just to get what you want? I WON'T HAVE THIS! RELEASE ME!"

Ethan violently struggles to get free, knocking the scientist he was talking to. As a response, Ethan has been sedated to calm him.

The scientist gets up with a sinister smirk on his face, revealing that he was the group leader that attacked him. "Like I said before, whether you like it or not Ethan, you will help us get what we want."

The first thing they did to make his body react was administering several different types of drugs into his body. Ethan does not react well as his body starts shaking violently again, but this time, nothing was damaged as preparations were made for such outbursts.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU GUYS DOING TO ME?" Ethan screamed.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit." The same scientist administers another drug, thus knocking Ethan out cold before turning the attention to another scientist in the same room.

"So what are the results?"

"It seems that your hunch is right. His body has the certain chemical allowing him to resist the effects of the drugs that are enough to kill a normal person."

"But it is still not enough. The chemical in his body only reacts to the drugs by resisting it rather than awakening it. If biological methods don't work, we will have to heighten his stress to see if emotional response is what triggers our desired reaction."

The next day, Ethan was dragged from his assigned room and strapped to a chair.

"What are you going to do to me now?"

"We are going to test your stress levels so sit back and enjoy."

"Wait, what are you going to do now?"

"You will see. Doctor, tape his mouth up."

Ethan attempts to struggle as tape was put. Unfortunately, once Ethan was muffled, the scientists have no trouble beginning the test.

"HHHMMMMMM!" An electric shock runs through his body as the tape muffles Ethan's painful scream.

"Barely any reaction coming from his body. Administer a higher voltage." One other scientist said.

Once they turn the voltage higher, they administer Ethan's body with the electric shock, making him muffle louder in pain.

"HHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMM!" Ethan continues his attempt to scream as he is being shocked.

As the shocks become stronger, the scientists become so frustrated that the chemical is not reacting as much as desired. They attempt to do another voltage, but saw that Ethan is almost passing out from the pain with tears coming out from his eyes.

They put Ethan in a medical center and removed the tape from his mouth. They soon saw that his body broke down so much from the painful tests that blood started spewing out of his mouth as he coughs.

Ethan was treated for his injuries and is locked in a solitary room for his body to recover. As Ethan lies on his bed, the tests that he was forced to endure has taken a toll on him as he is left mentally disoriented and nearly driven insane.

After a few days, Ethan's body recovers enough for him to sit up on his bed. A security guard opens the door telling him he has a visitor. A man he never saw before in a white lab coat comes in and the door closes. Ethan stares at him with great contempt.

"What are you going to do to me now? Drive me insane?"

"Helping you escape. The cameras here can only see, not hear, so this is the only place for me to help you."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"I am actually an informant of an espionage agency where your mother works, something that you probably haven't heard from her since she wanted you to live a normal life. I know why you are here and will be more than glad to tell you everything and aid your escape."

"What exactly do they want from me?"

"They want a substance in your body that you were injected with as a toddler known as Chemical Z."

Ethan becomes more cautious. "Chemical Z? What kind of chemical is that?"

"A substance used for our agency's super-soldier program to fight off the Invaders, an alien race bent on taking over Earth. The reason is still uncertain. Anyway, the super-soldier program has been around for about 20 years, but was shut down 5 years ago, because those who were injected died several years after, as their bodies cannot handle the stress of the powers given to them. Even though the properties of the chemical became close to perfect over time, we could only administer it to two people before the program was shut down, you and a young officer who was killed in an attempt to stop the Invaders."

"But why me? Why was I chosen to have this chemical?"

"Your father also worked for our agency before he was killed and had your mother take his place. She didn't want you to meet the same fate so she administered the improved chemical in your body through injection. Some of our scientists were against the shut down of the super-soldier program and went rogue, forming what you see now in an attempt to collect samples of the improved chemical to continue this program."

"My mother did this to protect me?"

"Yes. We wanted you to live a normal life, but with the situation you are in now, you are going to have to give up some of that, especially since the Invaders are slowly increasing their rate of activity, but don't worry, you won't be fighting alone. Your mother and the rest of the team will be fighting with you along with a new heroine team who just happens to be living here."

"Powerpuff Z…"

"That's right. We later found out through research that they were hit with the chemical of similar properties as the one administered to you. They wanted peace as much as you do and that can be further accomplished with you assisting them."

Ethan becomes a little irritated. "How come their powers were able to react faster and much more differently than mine?"

"Because unlike you, their contact with the chemical is like through touch rather than fusing with their bodies like yours. The chemical basically acts like a layer to those girls. In order for you to awaken your powers, you will have to learn how to use your body as a weapon instead of having a weapon like they do. I can teach you how to unleash it as your means of escape, but only if you are willing to help us out. Will you do it?"

"If I have to choose between being a part time superhero or suffering in this asylum then you already know my decision."

"Very well. In order for you to activate your powers, close your eyes and concentrate fully on one part of the body."

Ethan did so and when he opens his eyes, he saw his hand glowing. "What is this?"

"Energy gathered by Chemical Z, convert the energy to form an attack by doing the same thing."

Ethan aims at the door and launches a blast of energy, forcing it open, causing a red alert.

Ethan turns to the informant. "You are coming with me."

He obeys as half a dozen security guards came to trap them. In response, Ethan rips off his bed and throws it at security, making an escape path. Many of the guards tried to stop them with their stun gun, but using the Chemical Z as protection, Ethan was unaffected as he beats down the guards, blowing up the labs using his energy to prevent anyone from suffering the way he did.

Once Ethan and the informant are outside, he grabs the informant and flies off as the Asylum continues to burn down. Once they are back at Tokyo City, Ethan parted ways with the informant after thanking him, but before he leaves, he gives Ethan a sword.

"Why would I need a sword to fight?"

"You will never know when you will need a weapon. Take it just in case."

Ethan accepts. "Tell my mother I said hi."

"We'll do. See you again."

As Ethan heads back home to rest, he spots the Gangreen Gang causing trouble, vandalizing cars with spray paint and confronts them.

Ace makes fun of Ethan's outfit. "Hey look, this kid looks like he just got out of the hospital. Stay away if you know what is good for you."

Ethan smiles and easily dispatches them with his strikes and kicks. By the time Powerpuff Z arrived, they saw the Gangreen gang already comically knocked out, causing the girls confusion.

"I wonder who did that." Miyako asked.

"I don't know, but whoever it is sure made our job easier." Kaoru laughed.

"Then let's head back to class." Momoko flies off as Miyako and Kaoru follow as Ethan watches them from the alley smiling.

**I figure that the first chapter won't give away enough on what that story is about so I decided to release another chapter to give more clues. Hope you readers enjoyed this chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

Back in the aircraft carrier, the general was given the full report of both his and Ethan's escape, which excites both the general and Ethan's mother, although they also worry that it might interfere with his social life, as they don't believe that a young teenager should handle the adult's responsibilities.

"We got one obstacle down, but all that did was create another." The general remarked.

"Now my son cannot live the life of people his age. What are we going to do now?"

The informant told them about the deal made between him and Ethan. "I told him that we will deal with the harder responsibilities while he lives the life the way that he wants to and he will only do what is needed in his area for now, so don't worry about Ethan. He can still live his life for the moment."

The mother is still worried. "I just hope that my son is smart enough not to let his new knowledge be made public to anyone."

"Don't worry, Ethan is smart enough to now. We will let him come to us once he is ready." The informant assured.

The general makes his way to the door. "With everything taken care of for now. We need to come up with our own defense strategy in case the Invaders attack again. We have to go."

The rest agreed and follows.

Back in Tokyo City, Ethan tries on a black armored suit, delivered to him by the informant in an attempt to hide his identity. In a similar fashion as Powerpuff Z when they reach for their belts, Ethan was given a teleporting device in his pocket, allowing him to transform into the suit when fighting.

"People will probably recognize my face if they look at me directly. Better hide that as well." Ethan thought to himself.

The suit made him look more like a more primal and armored version of the android, except that the suit has a glowing visor, which are used as a tracking device inspired by the technology of Batman from the movie The Dark Knight for stealth missions.

"Rider." he calls himself before transforming back to normal.

"It has been a while since I've been back to school, especially since I was kidnapped during the first day. I hope that the people aren't too hard on me when I get there."

Back in the lab, Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru were all gathered by Professor Utonium and Ken to discuss the new enemy that has just been fought as well as who or what has been hit with the white Z-rays, which Peach sometimes senses.

"So what you are saying is that we now have enemies that are not caused by the black Z-rays right?" Kaoru asked.

"Yes, but at the same time, Peach keeps sensing someone or something with white Z-rays ever since that thing showed up." Professor replied.

"It must be that same guy who helped us destroy that metal thing when it was about to outmatch us!" Momoko yelled out.

"Not really, because when you girls were fighting, there was barely any trace of it, but I did sense it when the Gangreen Gang was causing trouble. Wan!"

"It seems like that more people are trying to help us." Miyako pointed out.

Ken remains cautious. "Still, you got to be careful. It is true that they are helping us currently, but we have no idea what their intentions are so we can't always rely on them for help since we don't know who is helping us."

"At least for right now, whoever it is apparently has good intentions so we will leave it at that. Come on, we better go or we will be late for school." Kaoru runs off.

"Hey, wait for us!" Momoko yelled as she and Miyako follows after.

"You think they will be okay Professor?" Ken asked with concern.

"Well, at least they are helping so the girls should be okay. Like I said, I still hope that they remain careful."

Ethan stops at the entrance and looks up at the school for a brief moment and looks at the note his mother gave him to explain the cause of his disappearance over the last few days. As he was about to head inside, he heard a familiar voice.

"Ethan-kun!" Momoko yelled with Miyako and Kaoru following behind.

"Ah, Momoko-san, so nice to see you again."

"How come I haven't seen you for the last few days? You only showed up on the first day of school before you suddenly disappeared."

Ethan shows Momoko the note. "I was in the hospital. I went to the doctor for a diagnosis, because I was feeling unwell and they told me that I had a flesh eating disease. Luckily, the surgery was minor since the disease was caught very early and right now I am currently taking antibiotics to treat it."

"So sorry to hear that Ethan-kun." Miyako becomes sympathetic.

"Well, I wish the best of luck for your full recovery." Kaoru also shows similar concern.

"Thank you girls. It always brightens my day to be with the people you are comfortable with. Anyway, let's head to class. I just hope that Keane-sensei doesn't take my absence too harshly."

"Don't worry, I am sure that she will understand once you show her the note." Momoko smiles as she heads to class.

As soon as Ethan went into the classroom, Miss Keane immediately lectures and ask him briefly about his disappearance before class starts. "I expected better out of you. You are our newest student who has only been here for one day then to suddenly disappear out of the blue the last few days. What exactly happened?"

Ethan handed over the note to Miss Keane.

"You were in the hospital? Why didn't you call the school?"

"It was so sudden that I had to be treated that I forgot to call. Sorry about that."

Miss Keane soon starts feeling guilty for putting the blame on Ethan when he was under a serious situation.

"Sorry for getting on your case. Please go back to your seat."

Ethan did as told as Momoko watches him take his sit. Once lunchtime hits, Ethan is eating lunch by himself and Momoko heads towards his table.

"Hello Ethan-kun, do you mind if I sit on your table to eat?" Momoko again becomes flustered.

"Go ahead." Ethan said without hesitation.

"Are you okay? You seem a bit down compared to your first day."

"I am just a little weak from the treatment, but I will be fine. I just need to take it easy for a while."

Just when Momoko is about to eat, her belt started flashing along with Miyako and Kaoru's.

"Excuse me for a moment. I've got to go." Momoko gets out of her seat.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I just need to take this call. I will be right back."

Back in the lab, Professor Utonium received a call from the mayor that Fuzzy Lumpkins is again causing trouble in the city, because people keeps leaving trash in the woods, which he claims is his property.

The Professor tells Peach to call Powerpuff Z in response.

"Powerpuff Z da wan!"

The girls transformed and head towards the attack sight. Nathan, as he was eating lunch, saw the smoke Fuzzy caused and heads to the rooftop to transform into Rider and launches off.

As the girls attack Fuzzy, they realized that Fuzzy's anger is currently at his peak and is attacking everyone out of rage. Powerpuff Z attempts to subdue him, but the girls are overpowered as Fuzzy becomes more angry than he was before.

"I am so sick of people leaving trash on my property! I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

Fuzzy picks up a car and tosses it high into a building.

"Jeez, what made Fuzzy so mad that he becomes this enraged?" Kaoru asked.

"I don't know, but if he doesn't calm down, the whole city will be destroyed." Momoko flies towards Fuzzy.

She takes out her yo-yo and launches it towards Fuzzy. "Choco-Banana Crepe Shoot!"

Fuzzy catches the yo-yo and hits Blossom with a vicious palm strike, sending her right through a nearby skyscraper.

Buttercup grabs here hammer and charges at Fuzzy. "Megaton Dunk!"

Fuzzy easily catches the hammer and slams Buttercup through the hard concrete floor.

With Miyako left alone, she attempts to block Fuzzy's charge.

"Bubble Boing!" The defense was proven useless as Fuzzy angrily charges and tackles her body through a nearby post office, which scatters hundreds of letters everywhere as a result.

Buttercup attempts to get up, only to see Fuzzy lifting a large boulder in front of her, intending to smash her with it.

"Wait Fuzzy, you are only doing this out of anger. Let's just talk it out." Buttercup pointlessly begs Fuzzy to rethink his actions.

Before Fuzzy is able to attack Buttercup, a beam of light was shot; destroying the boulder as Fuzzy and Kaoru tries to take sight of where the beam came from.

"So Fuzzy is what they call you right? You really need to learn how to calm down."

"I will not forgive anyone who helps my enemies!" Fuzzy begins to charge towards Rider at full speed.

"Weak." Rider simply moves to the side and puts his leg out, tripping Fuzzy and causing him to fly some distance away, landing face first on the road.

"You're going to pay for that!" Fuzzy attempts another charge.

Rider lifts up his right hand. "Don't make a promise you can't keep."

A blast of energy came out from his hand and lifts Fuzzy Lumpkins up in the air, which eventually explodes, sending him further away into the sky until everyone loses sight of him.

Buttercup, Blossom, and Bubbles were finally able to regroup with Fuzzy gone. Buttercup sees that Rider is still there and walks towards him.

"Um, thanks for saving us earlier. Who are you?" Buttercup blushes, as she often doesn't express gratitude often towards anyone.

"Just call me Rider. The only thing you need to know about me right now is that I will be there to help with whatever trouble you can't handle yourselves."

"Huh? How boring."

Blossom becomes excited in contrast to Buttercup since she is a fan of the superhero genre.

"How great! We have another ally. We can take you to the Professor to let him know about this."

"Actually, I am already working for someone else, but don't worry since we are all on the same side. I will see you later." Rider flies off.

"Wait!" Before Blossom can chase after Rider, Miyako and Kaoru dragged her back to school to enjoy the rest of their lunch.

When Momoko arrives back to the cafeteria, she sees that Ethan isn't there and becomes worried.

"Momoko-san?" Momoko turns behind her and saw Ethan walking back to the cafeteria.

"Ethan-kun? Where were you?"

"I needed to take my antibiotics, but I remembered that I left it in my locker so I went back to get it. Why was your call so long?"

"I had a hard time getting my sister off the phone when I was talking to my mother about rearranging the furniture. Sorry about that."

"It's okay. You want to head back to the table and finish eating?"

"Of course!" Momoko excitingly heads back to the table.

"Slow down Momoko-san." Ethan laughs a little before following Momoko.

Kaoru and Miyako watches as Ethan and Momoko eat their lunch together. Miyako shows happiness towards the two while Kaoru watches them with suspicion since guys always turn down Momoko yet Ethan doesn't mind eating lunch with her.

"Isn't it great that Momoko-san finally finds a guy friend to hang out with." Miyako asked Kaoru.

"It's more weird to me since guys often turn down Momoko, though I can't blame him since he is still a new student."

"Come on, Momoko-san at least deserves someone who is willing to pay attention to her."

"I guess you are right." Kaoru relieves her suspicion and allows herself to enjoy lunch without distractions.

After school finished, the girls were called back to the lab as Ethan went home. As soon as they arrived, Professor Utonium asked the girls about their battle with Fuzzy Lumpkins.

"Peach told us that there was another source of white Z-rays when you girls were battling Fuzzy. Did you find something who shows signs of it?"

"When Fuzzy was about to smash me with a huge boulder, some guy in a black armored suit came and rescued us and blasted Fuzzy out of the sky using a blast of white light. He calls himself Rider" Kaoru answered.

"The battle against Fuzzy was when I sense the white Z-rays again. Wan!"

"Then that must mean that Rider must have been hit with the white Z-rays." Miyako said.

"Then we must bring him so we can talk to him about his powers." The Professor suggested.

"I tried doing that, but he refused. He says that he works for someone else, but claims to be on the same side as we are and told us not to worry because of it."

"You sure about that Momoko-san? Wan!"

"He also said that we would meet again if we are in trouble so this won't be our last encounter with him."

The Professor becomes relieved. "All right, that made me feel a little better, but you still must remain cautious since we still don't know who Rider is, but if he is doing all of this to help then there is no harm in letting Powerpuff Z have a little assistance."

With the situation settled, the girls spend a little more time doing whatever they want with Momoko eating snacks, Miyako reading a fashion magazine, and Kaoru watching baseball on TV before they head home.

As Ethan completed his homework, his home phone started ringing and he picks it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ethan, how are you doing?"

"You must be the informant. I am just done with my homework so I plan to relax for a bit."

"That's good. We just got a report that you had your suit activated. What did you use it for?"

"There was this crazy overpowered hillbilly causing trouble and beating up Powerpuff Z so I had to get involved."

"How did your first superhero fight work out?"

"It will take time for me to get used to it, but I like where it is going so far. Having a normal life plus dealing with crime every now and then is something I wouldn't mind, although I will have to get used to the fact that this is now my daily routine."

"Your mother will be home soon so I want you to remember that there will be times when things don't go your way. Just be careful out there."

"I will. See you later."

"Goodbye." Ethan hangs up.

The scene then switches to an enemy base in an unknown planet. An Invader is seen interrogating one of the POWs they trapped in cages intending to sacrifice them.

"Your efforts were admirable, but your doom has already been foreseen."

"You may kill us, but just so you know, underestimating us will be the biggest mistake of your life. You will all fall eventually before your race can invade Earth."

"I think that it will be better if I just shut you up. Drop them down!"

Another Invader climbs and uses a crane-like machine to lift the cage over a lake of acid and drops them. The prisoners screamed as they fall to their deaths. Once their screaming is gone, the Invader turns back.

"Finally, more silence."

"What is your next order sir?" One of his assistance asked.

"Seems like there is now more resistance showing on Earth as there was years earlier. Get started on building the giant jump gate so we can finally begin our plan of invasion!"

"Yes sir!" The assistant runs off as the Invader watches.


	4. Chapter 4

"I'll meet both of you at school so see you later!" Momoko then left the lab in the speed of light.

"Momoko-san is leaving for school much earlier than usual." Miyako said as she reads her fashion magazine.

"That's because she wants to wait for Ethan to show up, since she is the only boy in school who doesn't mind hanging out with her."

Kaoru turns to Professor Utonium. "By the way, did you figure out who Rider is?"

"No clue. There is no background or history about this individual. The footage of Rider that was sent in shows only very little of his powers so we don't know exactly what he can do." The Professor responded.

"I am sure he will show up once trouble shows again. See you later." Kaoru left with Miyako following behind.

At school, Ethan is about to come to the front entrance when he heard a familiar voice.

"Ethan-kun!" Momoko called out.

"Momoko-san?" Ethan becomes slightly confused.

"I was hoping I would see you today."

"I am guessing you are already going to do that everyday right?"

Momoko becomes worried. "Do you not like me talking to you everyday?"

"Quite the opposite Momoko-san. I just never expected to make a friend this quickly since I am still the newest student here."

"I guess that makes sense in most cases. I guess that would be why Kaoru and Miyako are my only friends in school."

"I am actually quite surprised that you don't have more. What is keeping you from making them?"

Momoko blushed a little, realizing that the reason she doesn't have any more friends, because they all thought of her as weird due to her flirty reaction towards good looking boys. This causes Momoko to remain silent for a while.

Not wanting to tease Momoko, Ethan changes the subject when he spots Kaoru and Miyako arriving.

"You friends are arriving now Momoko-san. I will see you in class."

"Okay. See you later." Momoko then turns back to Miyako and Kaoru.

"How are things going so far between you and Ethan?" Kaoru asked.

"Pretty good. He told me that he finds it weird that I talk to him everyday, because he never expects to make a friend so quickly as a new student."

"Really? I thought it is your personality that he finds weird since all guys rejected you because of it." Kaoru laughed.

Momoko pouts in response. "Hey, don't be so mean."

"Please don't tease Momoko-san too much Kaoru-san. I am just glad that there is at least one guy that understands her." Miyako intervenes.

"Whatever. Anyway, class is about to start so let's go."

Class ended early, but because they have another period, everyone in the class stays to relax although one of the girls in his class approach Ethan, apparently to ask him out on a date.

"Um, would you like to go see a movie with me?" The girl shyly asked, which earns her some ire from Momoko.

"Thank you for asking, but I am afraid I am not interested in dating anyone since I don't know many of you. I am sorry, but I am not ready yet."

The girl left with slight disappointment, much to Momoko's relief.

During this time, Ethan was able to get a head start on his homework and helped Momoko with some of the problems she has on it as well. Kaoru and Miyako decide to ask Ethan for help, but have forgotten they haven't introduced themselves yet.

"You girls must be Miyako-san and Kaoru-san right? Momoko told me a little bit about you two."

"We know a little about you from Momoko-san as well. I know is a little late, but it is nice to meet you." Miyako politely greeted him.

"It's nice to finally talk to the two of you as well, although Kaoru-san looks like she has something against me."

"Don't worry. Kaoru-san is like that to us also when we first met. It will be all right once we all know each other." Momoko responded.

"I didn't want to ask, but could you also help both me and Miyako with out homework?" Kaoru took out her textbook and shows Ethan where she is stuck on.

"Of course I can. Come on, let's get started." Miyako and Kaoru immediately took out their notebooks and gather around Momoko and Ethan to get started, much to the dismay of some of the other girls who wanted to hang out with him.

They were finished about 10 minutes before their next period started. Kaoru and Miyako left to get prepared for the period leaving Momoko and Ethan alone for the moment.

"Aren't you going with them as well?" Ethan asked.

"It's okay. I already had my stuff prepared before they did so I am not in a rush."

"I see."

Before the conversation continues further, Momoko heard a ring and the one who tried to call her was the mayor trying to warn her about an enemy coming to her school, but before the details can be explained, an explosion was heard in the hallway. Forcing itself in was none other than the same android whom the Powerpuff Z had trouble fighting the first time they encountered it. Transforming its arms into blades, it began to chase the two.

Before Momoko could react, Ethan instinctively picked her up and put her in a princess hold running from the android. They were able to avoid the android by turning left in the hallway and hide in a nearby janitor's closet before the android could catch them sneaking in.

"Stay here. I will distract the android for the others to retreat." Ethan whispers to Momoko.

"Are you crazy? That thing could have you killed in a matter of seconds."

"Don't worry, I can handle my own. I'll just hold on long enough until everybody can retreat."

"It is too dangerous. There is no way I will let you go through with…" Before Momoko could finish her sentence, Ethan muffles her with his hand.

"The thing is outside."

Once the android is directly in front of the door, Ethan releases Momoko and violently slams the door on the android to prevent it from taking sight of him. Ethan uses all of his body strength and pushes the android outside. With everyone focusing on the android, Ethan hides behind a bush and quickly transforms into the Rider, immediately coming out into battle.

Momoko, on the other hand, received a call from Kaoru, who tells her that she and Miyako are fighting two of the androids that suddenly attack the town.

"I can't leave, because the school is also being attacked by the same being."

Not knowing what to do, Kaoru and Miyako accept Momoko's decision to stay. Once the call ended, Momoko leaves the closet to find that a battle is going on outside on the yard between Rider and the android.

"Rider? What is he doing here?"

As the battle continues, Ethan and the android had a brief stare down before the mechanical being turns his arms into blades.

"So that's how you like to play it huh? That's fine by me." Rider then summons his sword from his armor.

It turns out that the android isn't just looking for a simple sword fight as multiple blades appear on each arm and begins shooting them towards Rider. Rider simply waves them of with his own blade and begins charging at the being at full speed. Clash after clash, both the android and Rider are not able to get the upper hand on each other though it appears the android is now on the defensive. Despite the android's high speed and stealth, Ethan's powers as Rider allows him to keep up.

Momoko realizes that watching the battle won't help Rider so she decides to get involved with the battle as well. After Momoko finishes transforming into Hyper Blossom, she takes out her yo-yo and launches it towards the android.

"Caramel Apple Shoot!" The yo-yo made direct contact to the head of the android as it was distracted with Rider, knocking it hard to the ground.

Rider took a look at Blossom and sees a worried look on her face.

"Thanks for the save, but is something wrong? You seemed a little down on something."

"Have you seen a boy who suddenly dashed out to the yard against the android? I saw him coming out when I was able to get to the school."

"He is safe so don't worry. I was able to get to him before the android could make his move. The last time I saw him was when he was helping the students evacuate."

Knowing that Ethan is alive, Blossom becomes relieved and smiled at Rider before turning her attention to the android.

"Rider-san, this thing is still alive!"

Rider immediately turns his attention to the android, but as he examines him, he notices a cut in its arm from making slight contact from Rider's blade. Seeing no blood coming out, along with electricity coming out from the wires, Rider finally realized that this being is not living, but a machine. With that information, Rider immediately charges towards the android with his blade.

"This is the end for you!"

Rider strikes the android with his blade, slicing off the head from the rest of its body, causing it to break down permanently. Blossom heads towards Rider's position and stands beside him after the battle looking at the damaged android.

"So that thing was not a person, but an android?" Blossom asked.

"It appears so. Whoever the enemies are must have access to high-level technology. With that knowledge, we must be more prepared in case they strike back.

In another area of Tokyo City, Blossom and Buttercup were able to destroy the other two androids that attacked, but apparently not without much difficulty as they are seen currently out of breath from the battle.

"Who knew that the thing we were fighting were robots instead of people?" Buttercup said still out of breath.

Miyako is still also out of breath, but speaks anyway. "I didn't. I just hope Momoko-san was able to beat that thing."

"Then we better head to school and find out before it's too late." Kaoru and Miyako then flew back to school.

When they arrive back to school, they were appalled by the damage that was done to it, even though the damage was only minor, but became saddened to see that the ambulance was called carrying a few of the students away. The cause of their injury was caused by structural damage when some debris fell on them. Despite injuries, there were no casualties in the school.

They then saw Blossom transformed back into Momoko and they do the same.

"Momoko-san, are you alright?"

"I am fine Miyako. I am glad that you two were able to come out okay from your fight."

"You don't even have a scratch on you compared to us. How were you able to get out of this fight like nothing happened?" Kaoru becomes a little irritated.

"Rider-san came to the rescue just in time to allow everyone to evacuate. Both me and Rider-san took down the machine together." Momoko responded.

"Why did Rider save the school instead of the town?"

"Calm down Kaoru-san. Maybe Rider-san happens to be closer to the school by this time so it couldn't be helped." Kaoru mellows down after hearing Miyako's explanation.

"By the way, where is Ethan? Did he run away scared?"

"Helping the school closed the part of the hallway broken down in the attack. Please don't be so rude to Ethan-kun if you think he abandoned me Kaoru-san. He is a lot braver than you think. He hid me in the closet and ambushed the robot to buy time for students to evacuate."

"You saw him doing that right? Ethan-san is brave isn't he?" Miyako starts showing slight admiration towards Ethan.

"Nobody would have done what he did so yeah he is brave." Momoko giggled a little.

"We better go help the school since this is the first time something like this has happened here." Kaoru suggested.

With the three finally settled with the situation, they all left to help.

School didn't happen the next day, as they were all still recovering from yesterday's attack.

Professor Utonium and his son, Ken, decided to take the time in analyzing the android given to them by the girls to have it studied.

"So these are the things that attacked the town nearly a week ago and it happened again just yesterday correct?"

"Yes Professor, but Rider-san came just in time to save the school so me and him were able to defeat the android there while Miyako-san and Kaoru-san were forced to face them on their own." Momoko responded.

"We already know that Rider-san came sense Peach sensed him coming. The real problem is we don't know who keeps sending the androids. Do you know anything Professor?" Ken asked.

"I don't believe that such technology would make itself public if it did exist. I am going to see if this android has anything that could lead us to whoever built this. You girls better stay alert. Even with the new hero helping us, even he could be overwhelmed."

"You got it Professor. Since it is our day off, let's go have some fun for a bit." Kaoru immediately grabs her skateboard and rides herself out of the lab.

"Hey! Wait for us Kaoru-san!" Both Momoko and Miyako yelled.

Ken hits his head out of disappointment. "I got a bad feeling about this."

Both Peach and Professor Utonium agreed as both are also disappointed with the girl's behavior in the situation.

In the meantime, Ethan is at home watching the news after reporting the attack to base. The attack on Tokyo City reports that more than 20 casualties were spotted among the general public and about 40 injured. The news report also gave credit to the Powerpuff Z who were there fighting, but Momoko and Ethan weren't given the same credit since they weren't there, although the media is soon going to follow the reports to the school since it was also attacked during the same day.

Feeling restless, Ethan decides to talk a walk around the neighborhood to get some groceries. After getting his needed supplies, his phone started ringing.

"Hello? Who is it?"

"Hey Ethan, do you recognize me?"

"You're that informant."

The informant becomes irritated. "My name is Edward you know."

"That is because you haven't told me your name since we first met. Anyway, I'll just call you Ed for short. It's easier to call you by that name."

"Whatever. I just wanted to tell you great job for stopping the attack with Powerpuff Z. Normally when three androids attack, we often have to send quite a few of our own troops to deal with them, butI guess that is not the case with the four of you working together."

"I can only thank the Powerpuff Z for making both of our jobs easier since they don't know about us yet."

"Neither do we know about them, but it wouldn't matter as long as they can help."

Their conversation is halted when Ethan saw a slightly damaged truck in a deserted warehouse, which indicated that a struggle took place.

"Ethan, you suddenly became quiet. Is everything all right? Are you still there?"

"Yes sir, I just found something a little out of the ordinary and I am going to check it out." Ethan approaches the truck.

"Be careful Ethan. Do you need us to send assistance to your area?"

"Not at this time."

When Ethan opens the back of the truck, the first thing he sees was a restrained creature that he never saw before and was appalled by his appearance.

"Ethan, what is wrong? What do you see?"

"Ed, I am afraid I will have to call you back. This is something I want to deal with own my own for now."

"Wait!" Ethan hangs up the phone as he continues to stare at the tied up creature, which in return stares back at him.

"Are you an Invader?" Ethan asked with extreme caution.


	5. Chapter 5

Ethan spots a damaged truck while carrying groceries on his day off due to the school still being repaired. When he opened the truck, inside is a completely tied up creature that has reptilian skin with a humanoid figure wearing black armor. Ethan recognizes that this creature is an Invader and plans to interrogate him before turning him in to base.

"If you don't talk, you will probably be dead before I call the authorities so you better be obedient."

The Invader nods and Ethan removes his gag from his mouth.

"Let's start from a simple question. What are you doing here?"

"I was ordered by my superiors to kidnap hostages so that you wouldn't get away with their plans, but I was thwarted by some unknown vigilante. I don't really know who that person is if you plan to ask."

"That explains why you are tied up, but why do they want to take over the world? What is their purpose for causing trouble here?"

"I am only a lowly infantryman so I don't know why they are doing this. I am only doing this, because you either join or be killed. Only my superiors have all the information. Invading planets is not what I call an ideal life for me if I had a choice."

"Congratulations, you saved your own life by revealing that information. You probably would have been killed if you did these actions without remorse. I will make sure to notify the base about this when they get you. Just listen to them and you will be okay."

"I just hope the hostages the others captured will be shown the same mercy."

Hearing this immediately caught Ethan's attention. "What hostages?"

"Unlike me, there are several more that have succeeded in acquiring hostages. They are gathering them to the tallest skyscraper in the city before reporting the situation to the enemy agency to prevent interference."

"You know that you are actually helping rather than thwarting us right?"

"My children would not be happy to know that their father became a killer of I did that. There is no way I can directly turn against my superiors since my children are there, but one thing is for sure, I won't let another planet suffer the same fate as our original home planet."

"What happened there?"

"A supernova happened to a nearby star engulfing our planet. Most of the population has died, but there are still many that survived and escaped. We found a new planet to live on, but a few months later, our superiors begin to discuss plans of an invasion to life-sustaining planets that could be suitable for our own kind. What I don't know is why we need another planet when we already have one. This is something you have to find out own your own."

Satisfied with the answer, Ethan calls the authorities, but not before leaving a note explaining everything that happened with his signature signed as prove.

"I still don't fully trust you so I am going to leave you like this. The authorities should be able to read this when they get you. As for now I got to rescue the hostages and quick before it is reported."

With the Invader taken care, Ethan grabs his cell phone and calls Ed.

"Hello?" Edward answered.

"Ed, it's me Ethan. Listen, I just got some information from the reported Invader. They plan to gather the hostages to a skyscraper to make sure we don't interfere. I am planning to stop them before they finish."

"Do you want me to report this?"

"We will only be doing what they want if we report it. I am going solo."

"Are you sure you can do this without assistance Ethan?"

"If I play my cards right, I will be fine. Ethan out." Ethan transforms into Rider and flies off into the city.

Peach senses the white Z-rays and alerts Professor Utonium. "Rider is back! Wan!"

"What? But the mayor did not report any trouble in the city at all. What is he doing here?"

The girls notice that too.

"Whenever Rider comes out, that means there is trouble." Kaoru said.

"Then you girls better go follow him to see what situation as occurred." The Professor ordered.

"Powerpuff Z Da Wan!"

After they finished transforming, Powerpuff Z flew away from the lab in high speed.

Rider reaches the building and uses his visor to determine the location of the hostiles and the hostages. He reached for his communicator and contacts Ed.

"There are definitely a number of hostages and hostiles starting from the 22nd floor to all the way to the top. I am sending you my visor's transmission to keep me alerted on activity I can't detect."

"Very well. You better get moving if you want to save the hostages."

"Roger." Rider flies through the staircase in order to prevent the Invaders from hearing him coming.

Meanwhile, the Invaders are currently torturing a couple of hostages, apparently out of spite.

"What do you want from us?" One of the hostages asked bloodied.

"You were the ones who killed several of our brothers and for that you must pay." The Invader torturing the bloodied hostage grabs out a blade and slashes his neck, killing him as the other hostage watches frightened.

"You're next." The other Invader grabs the second hostage and throws him out of the window.

Luckily for this hostage, Rider was able to keep an eye on him and catches him through an open space one floor below without being noticed.

"Stay her if you want to live." Rider said as he cuts off the strings he was tied with.

"Tell me what is the situation now."

"I was only placed in one floor so I don't know about the rest, but I saw three hostages killed by these aliens out of revenge. If you are going to save them, please do so quickly. Will do, but you might want to cover your ears."

Ed attempts to contact Rider. "Many of the Invaders on the floor above you are moving away from the hostages. If you plan to get them down from the ceiling on your floor, now would be the time."

"I know." Rider plants charges from his suit around the group of Invaders above him and blows up the supports, dropping the aliens down and knocked them unconscious before untying the hostages and telling them to get down from the staircase since it is the safest route.

"Ethan, the next set of hostages are located on the 30th floor. The Invaders aren't there yet, but they are on their way up now through the elevator."

"Thanks for the info." Rider immediately flies to the 30th floor in an attempt to get to the hostages first.

Once he succeeded, he plants the next set of charges next to the elevator. As soon as the aliens come out of the elevator, the charges explode, sending them falling to their deaths outside.

"Ethan, the plan is a trap! Half a dozen Invaders are charging at you right now! They must have separated themselves to different floor to thwart our rescue attempts."

"It won't work."

Rider sees them and was forced to fight them off. Not wanting to shoot their own troops, the Invaders only fight using their blades, but Riders martial arts background allows him to outmatch them as he sends the next two falling to their deaths while knocking the rest unconscious. He then hangs a conscious one by the neck outside, threatening the alien he will drop him if he doesn't tell where the rest of the hostages are.

"There are only two floors left with hostages on the 50th and the rooftop."

"Well that wasn't so hard was it?" Rider knocks him out cold with his elbow and throws him back inside as he flies to the fiftieth floor.

When he reaches the floor, he saw that the Invaders are everywhere and that stealth is impossible. He eventually decides to take them on by surprise as he burst through the energy unleashing large amounts of energy from his hands, hitting every alien he could find before they could lift their guns. When the Invaders are able to shoot, Rider was able to dodge most of them, but in response to those he can't stop, he creates a barrier in one direction that the blasts are heading and successfully blocks them. When he sees one group with their weapons out of power, he charges and hits them hard before they can switch weapons.

Rider then holds two surviving aliens on the neck in a similar fashion earlier, demanding to know who runs this mission. When he learns that the captain is on the rooftop, he knocks the two aliens out, frees the hostages, and immediately flies off. Upon the rooftop, it seems as though the captain knew of his presence for a while and threatens to kill her with his gun if he continues to interfere.

"You continue to interfere with our plans and this girl dies." The Invader tries to step back with the hostage to give himself two options on how to kill her either with a gun or dropping her from the building.

Rider, however, is not intimidated. "You would die if you try. How about you hand the girl over to me and I will let you live."

"No way. I've come way too far to let this mission fail and I am willing to stay with it till the end." The captain becomes intimidated instead.

"I am afraid that choice is not an option." Rider picks up one of the girders and dropped it from the building, taking the captain with it, revealing that Rider had anticipated his plan and tied his foot on to the girder without noticing.

The captain was forced to let go of the hostage, but luckily, the girder was aimed at the scaffold down below and stops the fall, leaving the captain dangling.

"Hey, let me down from here!" The captain screamed.

"Don't worry, the authorities I just called will let you down."

"I've got to work on my stamina." Ethan said to himself.

With the hostages secured by the police force after being reported by one of the hostages, Rider calls Ed about the situation.

"Ed, mission success. The Invaders have been taken down and the hostages are secured by the police."

"Our authorities are on the way to pick up the Invaders and explain everything to the police. Good job Ethan, now you better find a way down before you are seen."

"I'll see what I can do, Ethan out."

After an exhausted Rider hangs up, he was no longer able to hold his form and transforms back to Ethan. However, his energy was depleted at the wrong time as Powerpuff Z, who had just arrived, witnessed his transformation. Ethan takes sight of them as well, much to his dismay.

"Ethan-kun?" Blossom yelled out in shock.

"How do you know my name?"

"Blossom, what are you doing? You can't just transform back just because his secret has been revealed." Buttercup yelled.

"We have been keeping secrets from him to Buttercup. It is only fair that I show him mind at least after finding out."

In front of Ethan's eyes, Blossom transforms back into Momoko.

"It's okay Ethan-kun, we won't tell anyone. Please promise you won't either."

"Of course. Blossom and Momoko-san did have the same looks. I always had that feeling that there would be a connection between you two. I am guessing that the two of you up there are Kaoru-san and Miyako-san, correct?"

"Yes. Listen, the Professor has wanted to meet you for quite some time as Rider. He and his son were responsible for creating us. Do you mind seeing him?" Miyako asked.

"What does he want from me?"

"He just wants to examine you and ask you a few questions. Don't worry, we have all gone through that so you can to." Miyako smiled.

"I hope you are right about him, but since we are all on the same side, I don't mind as much about seeing him. Can I at least take a break first? I am exhausted after dealing with the hostiles and freeing the hostages."

"You are exhausted just like that?" Kaoru remarked.

"I am still new to the whole superhero thing so I didn't have time to train as one so give me a break. I used up most of my energy in an ambush attempt due to the large number of hostiles on one floor."

"Then let's go to Sakurako-san's sweet store!" Momoko suggested out of excitement.

The girls begin to fly away, but mistakenly leaving Ethan behind, forgetting that he has no more energy left.

"Sorry Ethan-kun, we almost forgot about you."

"So now you are calling me that Miyako-san?"

"It sounds better this way." Miyako giggled.

After helping Ethan get down, the four of them walk into the sweet store and Sakurako was no less than happy to see them. She then curiously took sight of Ethan when the girls brought him along.

"Oh my, who is this cute-looking boy?" Sakurako asked.

"My full name is Ethan Wright. Ethan is my first name and I am a new friend of the girls, though the closest one I am with is Momoko-san."

"My name is Sakurako Kintoki. It is nice to meet you." Sakurako bows.

"Likewise." Ethan does the same.

"Do you mind giving Ethan-kun something sweet to drink?" Momoko asked.

"Of course and would you like anything to eat as well?"

"Nothing for me, thank you. I just want a soda."

"Coming right up." Sakurako left for the kitchen.

"Do you mind telling me how you actually became the hero Rider?" Kaoru asked.

"I will probably have to tell the whole story to your professor so can you wait until then?"

"I guess." Kaoru acted unsatisfied.

As they get their refreshments, Souichiro comes into the restaurant and, as usual, Sakurako becomes infatuated towards him and he reacted in a similar way.

"Seems like there is something romantic going on between the two." Ethan laughed a little.

"There is. Sakurako-san is currently in love with Souichiro and tends to get jealous whenever she sees him with another girl, which is not a good thing." Momoko explained.

"Why is that? Isn't it common for people to get jealous if their lovers are seen with someone else?"

"Yes, but every time she gets jealous, she tends to put lipstick on which causes her to go extremely insane due to an accident that happened a while ago, although she won't remember the time being insane after she calms down." Miyako answered.

"I see. Makes me glad he has similar feelings towards her."

"Agreed. Only love can make someone this happy." Momoko becomes excited seeing Sakurako and Souichiro together.

Ethan took notice of Momoko's assumption. "You seem to know quite a bit about romance Momoko-san."

"It's probably from her previous experiences being turned down by most boys she asked out." Kaoru joked.

Momoko pouts in response.

"It's strange though. You are the only boy we know who did not turn Momoko down. Why is that?"

"Momoko-san happens to be my closest friend. She is the first friend I made in this school. Why would I want to turn down the offer to hang out?"

Momoko becomes happy hearing Ethan defending their friendship, which also causes Miyako to be happy as well.

"It makes sense. I just did that, because I want to know what you thought of Momoko. By the way, do you think it is possible for you to teach us some of your powers?"

"I don't think that is possible for the most part since my powers are much different than yours Kaoru-san. All I can teach you is martial arts at best, which is what I used mostly to fight my enemies."

"I may not be as skilled as you, but I already know how to defend myself so that part is no problem."

Ethan took a brief look at Sakurako and notices that she is beginning to get a little jealous when Souichiro suddenly mentions about helping another girl move in to her dorm.

"Oh, this is bad."

The girls also became concerned as they see her unhappy after Souichiro left and in response, she took out her lipstick. Ethan and the girls attempted to stop her, but she transformed before they even reach her. With Sakurako transformed into Sedusa, she begins causing havoc in her own shop.

"Now that's insanity to the extreme." Ethan remarked.

"She is transformed into Sedusa. We have to calm her down so she can return back to normal." Momoko suggested to Ethan.

"I got some energy back so I should be able to help you."

The four of them transformed into their alter egos and fights back. Sedusa uses her hair to catch Rider, but to her surprise, Rider catches her and uses her hair to toss Sedusa through one of the tables.

"Rider-san, you have to be easy on her. She is still Sakurako we are fighting." Blossom warned.

"Sorry, but how do we calm her down?"

"We can still fight, but we don't want her to get seriously injured."

"Leave that to me. Rider, do you think you can grab her hair to prevent her from using it?" Kaoru asked.

"Of course. What do you have in mind?"

"I will use my wrestling skills to put her in a sleeper hold."

"Guess that is the least severe way to calm her down. Let's try it."

Rider attempts to get her attention by making false strikes and Sedusa uses her hair as expected. Rider catches all of her hair by surprise, pulling her head to prevent her from noticing Buttercup coming right behind her. Buttercup locks on to the sleeper hold and within a minute, she passed out.

"Might as well see the Professor now that she has passed out. Only he can cure her." Kaoru flies off with Sedusa.

"Very well." Rider follows behind.

"The second time where both me and Miyako-san didn't get to do anything." Momoko becomes unhappy.

"Don't worry about it Momoko-san. Both of them are just more adapted to fighting than we are."

"Let's just go." Momoko left with Miyako following.


	6. Chapter 6

During Rider's rescue attempt earlier, several Invaders have managed to escape capture before he can reach their floors despite Rider being able to use surveillance to his advantage. They are currently facing harsh interrogations in an underground hidden base by their superiors, including physical beatings as they talk.

"Please understand. All of us would have probably been killed if we stay to fight." One of the survivors begs.

"Shut Up!" His commanding officer hits him again on the head.

"The ones who did stay fought to the death to make sure that they have a chance of success! At least they show courage unlike you cowards!"

"We could have had a lot more casualties if we didn't retreat. Wouldn't it damage us more if all of us were killed?" Another survivor tried to explain.

"If you couldn't handle the situation then why didn't you call for back up? Do you know that you just gave clues to our enemies by letting some of us get captured instead of fighting?" The commanding officer asked.

Realizing their mistakes, they had no more to say. The visible angry officer took out his blaster and asked the few survivors to turn back, which they did without knowing why. As soon as all of them were turned back, the officer shoots all of them, killing them in an instant.

"I am sure our race can survive without cowards like yourself." The commanding officer said to the dead bodies.

He then turns to the rest of his soldiers, whom were all watching. "Remember, our race is already pretty close to extinction. This is the reason why we must take Earth no matter what cost to save it. Anybody who does not show the will to save our kind will die before we do, understand?"

"Sir!" All the soldiers yelled out.

"Good, dismissed!" The commanding officer then walks back as the rest if the soldiers return to their position.

Meanwhile, Ethan and Powerpuff Z head back to Professor Utonium's lab to cure Sakurako from the black Z-rays that causes her to transform into Sedusa. The girls carried Sedusa back, but tells Ethan to stay to get acquainted with the Professor and his son, Ken.

"So do you want to tell us anything about yourself before the girls come back?" The Professor attempts to start a conversation with Ethan.

"I won't tell you all of my secrets, but I will tell you what you need to know when the girls get back."

"That's fine, but tell us who you are in general." Ken follows.

"My full name is Ethan Wright. I am 14 years old and was born in New York City. My father died when I was just a baby and my mother got a job offer in Japan so we moved there as a result. She currently works as an Army officer, but back then we have to move all over Japan to find a place to settle, which makes Tokyo City our new home as a result."

"Is their anything you can tell us about your powers?" Ken asked.

"All I can say for now is that it came from Chemical Z, which you probably already know what that is right?"

"That would explain why I wasn't able to sense you until recently. Wan!"

"How did you get Chemical Z in the first place? Did the Z-rays hit you when you were traveling through Japan?" The Professor asked.

"No. The prove is within my powers since they work quite differently compared to Powerpuff Z."

"Then can you tell us how you actually get them?" The Professor continues.

"That is information you have to wait until the girls get back. They might as well all hear about it."

"Very well, but what about the villains? Do you know anything about them?" Ken asked.

"Like I said, such information will only be told once the girls arrived, because it involves them as well since they are fighting the same threat." Ethan becomes slightly irritated at their questions.

"Very well." Ken disappointedly stops talking about the subject until Power puff Z arrives back.

Feeling a little restless, Ethan decides to walk around the lab a little after being warned by the Professor not to open certain doors. Ethan accepted the conditions although he can't keep the promise that he would know which door he would enter or not. Instead, Ethan only promises that he wouldn't touch their inventions or personal belongings if he does enter the rooms he is not allowed to go into.

Once the girls arrive back to the lab, Ethan is seen watching TV with Ken, Peach, and Professor Utonium watching along.

"Hello, we are back." Momoko tries to get their attention and succeeded when Ethan turns around followed by Ken, Peach, and Professor Utonium.

Once all of them have settled in the couch, Ethan decides to tell everyone a slightly more detailed story about being exposed to Chemical Z and whom the villains are that they caught.

"Chemical Z was actually made by a espionage agency over three decades ago for the super soldier project in order to fight off the Invaders, the creatures that you girls saw earlier before you saw me transform back. They are the ones responsible for building the androids that attacked the town."

"Let's talk about the Invaders first. Who are they and what do they want that they would attack us for?" Kaoru asked in an assertive tone.

"They are aliens bent on taking the Earth for unknown reasons. The best information I got was from a lowly infantrymen who didn't want to fight, but was forced to or else risk being killed. He told me that a supernova destroyed their home planet and was able to find another to live on, but for some reason, they begin searching for other planets to invade that could be suitable for their own kind despite already finding one and Earth is their target. This is all I got from the enemy soldier as he doesn't know why."

"So they are forcing their own kind to make the invasion or risk death. That seems really harsh." Miyako pointed out.

"Agreed, but again we don't know their motivation for their invasion so we can't conclude the case yet until we know more."

"So Ethan-kun, why don't you continue your story about the Chemical Z and how it was being used?" Momoko asked.

"Like I said before, Chemical Z was discovered more than 30 years ago while working on a secret project for the program. I can't tell you the name or where the base is where the program takes place due to a promise towards them, but I can tell you that they are on the same side as us since the super soldier program was meant to combat the aliens trying to take over this world. You guys probably discovered it by accident even though it already existed."

"Wait, if Chemical Z was used to create heroes then how come nobody else, but you show it?" Ken asked.

"Because in the early stages, the chemical was not without side effects. Many of them were killed, because the chemical allows them to exceed their body limit, which causes their bodies to break down, eventually killing them in a couple of years although some survived for a bit longer."

"Then how come you and the girls are fine compared to the rest?" The Professor asked.

"Because the soldiers were injected with the chemical rather than being hit by the chemical in the form of light, like the girls. They manage to improve the chemical over time, but because of the casualties caused by it, the government shut down the super soldier program so I was one of the last injected with the improved chemical, because my mother did not want me to meet the same fate as my father when the Invaders killed him. My mother still works in the espionage right now in hopes of winning the war against them."

"I see, but what is the plan against them? Wan!" Peach asked.

"We don't know where they exactly are since they only send lowly infantrymen and the androids to fight. My best plan is to draw out their superiors by continuing to intervene with their missions in hope to capture one of them to reveal what more we needed to know. Until they make the next move, there is nothing to do, but to prepare."

"I guess that makes sense. By the way, since your blood is injected with Chemical Z, do you mind if I take a blood sample to see if there is some kind of clue on what caused previous deaths?" Professor Utonium requested.

"Since you already know about the chemical, I don't see why not." Ethan goes to the lab's medical center with the Professor.

Ken becomes concerned after hearing Ethan's background and turns to the girls. "Are you sure we can trust someone who works in a agency that we have never heard of? He might accidentally bring danger to us of being exposed."

"Well, he did say the agency was kept secret for more than 30 years so far, which means that he would have no problem keeping it a secret from others. After all, we are all on the same side and have the same enemy. We will need to work together if we are going to defeat the Invaders." Miyako defends Ethan.

"I guess, but I still don't trust him that much despite the fact he helped you girls several times."

"If you know him as much as I do, you will understand. It takes time for trust to build so just give him a chance." Momoko lectures Ken.

Once Ethan returns, he tells the girls he wants to go home to get some work done, but not before giving them his contact information and address in case they need to meet with him. After Ethan leaves, he takes out his cell phone and calls Ed.

"Hey Ed, are you there?"

"Hello Ethan, what's up?"

"I accidentally exposed myself to Professor Utonium and Powerpuff Z after my powers couldn't hold out. My identity is no longer a secret to them anymore."

"It was bound to happen sooner or later. I didn't expect them to find out so soon, but they would need to know eventually so I think it might be a good thing since it will make it easier for all of you to work together. Did you tell them everything?"

"Everything except for name and location of the agency and base."

"That needs to be kept a secret for now, but we will reveal ourselves once the right time comes. In the meanwhile, you better try to improve yourself as these missions are soon starting to get more difficult."

"Don't worry about that. I planned to train anyway since fatigue is the reason why I mistakenly reveal myself."

"Did they all promise to keep your identity a secret?"

"I know their secret as well so I am sure they will keep their end of the bargain."

"Well then, take care."

"You too and tell my mother I said hi when you see her." Ethan hangs up and proceeds home.

"I better get some training done. I don't want to tire myself out like I did last time." Ethan thought to himself.

Once Ethan returns home, he enters the garage and when he turns on the lights, the garage actually turns out to be a small gym where Ethan often does his martial arts training, as his mother never parks her car inside. The first thing he did as warm up was jogging on the treadmill and gives himself a longer time to run to exceed his previous limit. Whether its martial arts, free running, or weight lifting, he attempts to past his previous limits to all of them, with his thoughts fully focused on becoming better as a fighter.

"Maybe I shouldn't have done all that at once." Ethan finds himself completely exhausted, lying down on the couch while watching TV. Every time he moves a part of his body, he immediately feels pain on the sore areas of his body, but was able to hide it despite being alone, due to the fact that he is used to pushing himself to this point, despite his mother's advice to only work on his own pace.

The school opened the next day and enough repairs were made to allow the students to go between classrooms despite the school still being under heavy construction as the result of the android attack.

Momoko greets Ethan once he enters class. "Good morning Ethan-kun, how is everything?"

"Okay I guess. My body is a bit sore, because I began my endurance training just yesterday. I passed my limits and well, that is the result."

Momoko becomes concerned. "You shouldn't have pushed yourself that far just to become stronger. Just work on your own pace and you will grow stronger eventually or else you might end up hurting yourself."

Ethan laughs in response. "My mother said the same thing to me and now you are doing it. I probably won't continue until my sores die down, but thanks for your concern."

"I hope you know what you are doing Ethan-kun."

"Hey both of you stop your lovers talk, because Keane already arrived." Kaoru interrupted.

"Good morning class. As you can see that the school was attacked a couple of days ago, but thanks to Rider and Powerpuff Z, the school was saved, but had caused enough damage for school to be skipped the next day. Though we are here now, some students aren't coming to this class at this moment due to injuries sustained by the perpetrators, but luckily thanks to the heroes, nobody in the school died and school was able to begin today. With that said, let's begin class shall we?"

After class ended, Miss Keane announced a small test the next day just so students would study a little to catch up. Since the test only makes up a small margin of students' overall grade, Ethan relaxes in his studying as he does his homework with ease in the class, but it is a different story for the girls.

"A test just only one day after returning? I already had trouble with my last homework!" Kaoru complained.

"What am I going to do? Our duties as Powerpuff Z have depleted our studying time." Miyako also got worried.

Ethan turns to Momoko, who is also about to complain and sighs. "I am pretty good with keeping up with my studies. If you want, we can hold a study hall at my house and I will make food for everyone."

"Are you sure about this Ethan-kun? Wouldn't it be a burden to you by adding more responsibilities to yourself?" Momoko asked with concern.

"I finish my homework rather quickly so I often have a lot of free time. I can use it to help you girls on your studies, but that is only if you want me to."

Momoko turns to Kaoru and Miyako. "What do you two think?"

"I am very desperate trying not to fail. Since Ethan knows a lot more than I do, I suppose it will help a lot." Kaoru accepts.

"It will help all of us if we work together. I will be more than happy to have a study hall in your house Ethan-kun." Miyako's enthusiasm got Ethan to smile back at her.

When everyone got to Ethan's house, Momoko and Kaoru were amazed with his home.

"Is your mother like rich or something?" Kaoru asked.

"My mother's job as an Army officer and her work in the agency allowed us to enter the upper middle-class society. We are a bit wealthy, but not exactly rich like those millionaires you see on TV."

"Only Miyako-san's house is larger than yours, but it's still amazing." Momoko pointed out.

"So Miyako-san is rich as well?"

"Yep, but she often has to follow her family's expectations so life in her house is not as loose as yours." Kaoru explained.

"It is not as big as my house, but it is still a nice place to live in. Shall we get started?" Miyako asked.

"You three better get your homework done first. I am already finished so I will go make dinner for the three of us."

As Ethan cooks, his home phone begins ringing.

"Hello?"

"Ethan? This is Edward."

"Hey Ed, how are things going on your end?"

"We just found some information from the captured Invaders you subdued."

"What did you find out?"

"The captain revealed that their Supreme Commander is actually your father's killer."

"WHAT?"

Ethan stood there appalled as Momoko, Kaoru, and Miyako listen from the living room as they do their homework.


End file.
